Research Fellow - Department of Physics | Te Kura Mātai Ahupūngao – fixed term - 26 months (Optical Communications)

Location: Auckland City Campus and Ardmore Field Station, New Zealand. Regular activity at Ardmore is required, including occasional evening, night, early-morning, or weekend observations; some travel within New Zealand and internationally may be required.

Salary: NZ$99,788–NZ$106,259 per annum, dependent on skills and experience.

Company

The hirify.global is a leading New Zealand university conducting research across the physical, biological, and computational sciences.

What you will do

• Operate the Taiaho telescope, receiver instrumentation, and observatory control, environmental-monitoring, and data-acquisition systems.
• Maintain campaign readiness through calibration, testing, rehearsals, checklists, and documented procedures.
• Plan and conduct satellite-pass campaigns, including pre-pass preparation, real-time operation, data capture, and post-pass review.
• Analyse acquisition and tracking performance, received optical power, signal-to-noise ratio, link availability, throughput, packet or frame loss, and bit error rate.
• Coordinate synchronised experiments with researchers and operators across the Australasian Optical Ground Station Network.
• Produce technical reports, publications, and presentations, refine shared procedures, and train students and Observatory operators.

Requirements

• PhD in physics, astronomy, optical science, electrical or communications engineering, aerospace engineering, space systems, or a closely related discipline.
• Hands-on experience operating, commissioning, or supporting complex scientific or engineering instrumentation.
• Experience planning time-critical observations, field campaigns, communications tests, or comparable experimental activities.
• Experience collecting, quality-controlling, and analysing quantitative experimental data using tools such as Python, MATLAB, or equivalent.
• Ability to coordinate multidisciplinary activities, diagnose interacting hardware and instrumentation problems, and work independently.
• Willingness and ability to work at Ardmore Field Station outside normal working hours when required by satellite-pass opportunities.

Nice to have

• Experience with astronomical telescopes, robotic observatories, optical or satellite ground stations, or satellite tracking.
• Knowledge of free-space optical communications, laser communications, optical receivers, or communications-system performance metrics.
• Experience with telescope pointing, tracking, calibration, optical alignment, orbit prediction, or pass planning.
• Knowledge of atmospheric effects on optical links, Linux-based scientific systems, laser safety, or optoelectronic equipment.
• Experience with international research collaborations or training students and facility operators.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible employment practices where compatible with operational requirements.
• Up to 6.75% employer superannuation contributions.
• Five weeks of annual leave and generous parental-leave provisions.
• Career-development and professional-training programmes.
• Childcare services and discounts on internal and external services.

Hiring process

• Submit a cover letter, CV, and brief statement addressing the essential skills and experience.
• Applications must be submitted online by 8 October 2026; applications are not accepted by email.